Of course, many "experts" in the media are popping in with all sorts of
recommendations on "saving fuel". One you hear them say a lot is " use
cruise control".
In my experience, with the exception of a BMW I had, I've always got better
mileage using my own damn foot rather than using cruise control. Most cruise
controls use very gross applications of throttle in an attempt to maintain
speed if there's even the slightest hill.
-----Original Message-----
From owner-spridgets at autox.team.net [mailto:owner-spridgets@autox.team.net]
On Behalf Of James Gruber
Sent: Tuesday, August 16, 2005 7:20 AM
To: Spridgets Digest
Subject: Gas Mileage and using premium gas
My 2000 Acura TL requires premium gas. Great car but the price for premium
is what you pay for the performance it provides. One of my fellow Acura
owners did a fairly scientific study of the cost / benefit ratio of using
Regular and MidGrade vs. Premium in this car. When changes were made to
Regular and MidGrade Gasoline, the computer in the car degrades performance
/ mileage to the extent that it is actually cheaper to run the car on
Premium than on Regular in spite of a $.20-$.25 per gallon difference in
price. For someone who commutes 120 mile per day I am concerned about the
price of gas continuing to escalate but it's still better than the gas
crisis in the '70's. I remember being on vacation and travelling to FL on
vacation with my parents, being in a 2 block long line waiting to get 10
gallons of gas to put in the '75 Ford LTD Wagon that on a good day got 8
mpg. Not a fun trip.
I did the math on this with my car. When I used 87 for a few tanks, my AVG
MPG dropped by 2-3 MPG. Here's what I found:
87 octane:
Average MPG: 22 MPG
Cost per gallon: $2.39
Cost per mile: $0.1086
89 octane:
Average MPG: 23 MPG
Cost per gallon: $2.49
Cost per mile: $0.1083
91 octane:
Average MPG: 25 MPG
Cost per gallon: $2.59
Cost per mile: $0.1036
So, it's actually cheaper to run the 91 on a per-mile basis if the engine
wants it. If an engine is happy running 87, there is probably no improvement
in performance going with the higher octane. The TL's engine is not such an
engine with its 11:1 compression ratio.I normally use 93 Octane Shell Gas
and with the majority of my mileage spent on the Interstate at 75+ I get
27-28 MPG.
Bugsy BTW insists on Sunoco 260 94 Octane or he will diesel on and on after
shutoff. 93 Octane or lower = Dieseling, 94 Octane, he shuts right off
without a sound.
Jim Gruber
Bugsy '68 Sprite (future Bugeye in disguise)
Cincinnati, OH
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